Monday, April 2, 2012

April 2

On this day in 1900, the Chicago White Stockings played for the first time against the University of Illinois, in Champaign, Illinois. The Pale Hose won 10-9 and Roy Patterson was the winning pitcher.

Roy started his career with the Western League St. Paul Saints in 1899 and moved with the team to Chicago before the 1900 season. Technically, the Sox were still a minor league team in 1900. The American League would become a major league before the next season and the White Stockings would be one of the original franchises.

Patterson enjoyed a 17-8 record over thirty starts, which included twenty-two complete games. In 1901, Roy became one of the first twenty game winners for the White Sox. The twenty games he won in 1901 would be the only time he would reach that mark in the majors. Clark Griffith would be the other pitcher to reach twenty games for the White Stockings that season, as he won twenty-four games.

On April 24, 1901, Patterson became the first pitcher to earn a victory in an official MLB American League game in a game against the Cleveland Blues. Roy peaked in 1903 and saw less playing time, until his last appearance in the majors on September 24, 1907. Although still with the White Sox, Patterson did not play in the 1906 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.